


Fifty Percent

by DreamingKate



Category: Glee
Genre: Huntington's Disease, Illness, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-02-07 10:57:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1896462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingKate/pseuds/DreamingKate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will wasn’t used to seeing Blaine so frazzled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Blaine has no idea about the gas leak, and thinks he’s losing his mind. (You can take this wherever you want, mental hospital, Therapy, Mrs. Pillsbury-Schuester, convo with Sam/Kurt/Tina/etc)

Will was deep in a pile of paperwork when he heard a quick, frantic knock on his office door. With a final sweep of his pen, he glanced up and froze. 

The shaking, wide-eyed boy standing in his doorway couldn’t look anything less like Blaine. His hair was partially gelled and his clothes were mussed slightly. 

“Hey Blaine, what’s going on?” He asked, worried.

“Can I talk to you?” Blaine twisted a hand in the strap of his bag and hurried to take a seat when Will nodded. 

“Are you alright?” Will pushed aside the papers and leaned forward, seeing Blaine’s chest hitch slightly and his eyes fill with tears. 

“No, I think I’m going crazy,” he would have laughed at the statement if Blaine didn’t look so devastated and so  _scared._

“Okay,” Will rolled his chair around the desk so he was sitting right across from Blaine. “Why do you think that?”

Blaine let out a sob and covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking. He managed to suck in a few deep breaths before his hands dropped to his lap. 

“I’ve been…seeing and hearing things,” he closed his eyes. “And I’ve been having headaches and have been feeling light headed.” 

“Have you gone to the doctor?” Will asked gently, pushing down the rising worry. Blaine was obviously panicked about something far bigger than just being sick.

“My mom is in a home. She has advanced Huntington’s Disease,” Blaine whispered, hands clasping tighter together in his lap. “She…her symptoms started when I was five and she’ll….she’ll die soon.”

“Oh my God,” Will felt his heart crack. He had no idea that Blaine was struggling with an ill parent. He couldn’t imagine the stress of going through his senior year while worrying that he could lose her.

“It’s in the brain. It begins with jerky movements and then she couldn’t walk. She just started getting mean. She would just yell and yell,” he reached up to wipe his eyes. “And it was like she wasn’t my mom anymore. Now she can’t feed herself or really know what’s going on.”

“You being under stress is completely understandable,” Will said and Blaine shook his head quickly. 

“No, the disease is hereditary. It’s a fifty-fifty chance that I have it. I’ll have the gene and just…wait for the symptoms to start,” his breathing hitched. “I’ve been feeling weird and these hallucinations are just…it’s a rare symptom but it’s still a symptom,” Blaine’s eyes widened. “The earlier you get the symptoms, the faster the disease progresses.” 

Will sat there silently as Blaine covered his eyes and sobbed again. Every comforting word that came to mind didn’t seem like enough. Nothing he said could make this better. 

“Is there a test you can take?”

“Yeah…I never wanted to take it though,” Blaine sniffed. “What if I did and found out that I had it? I would just have to wait and know that I was going to die like that.”

“How about I get Ms. Pillsbury in here and we’ll call your dad?” Will squeezed his shoulder. “He can get you an appointment with a doctor and we’ll get this figured out.”

Blaine nodded shakily, pressing a hand firmly to his mouth. “I’m scared Mr. Schue.”

“It’ll be okay,” Will assured him, reaching for the phone. “Have you called Kurt?”

“He doesn’t know,” Blaine looked horrified for a moment. “I didn’t want to find out and tell him that we might only have like…ten years together.”

Will remembered his senior year. He remembered how stressed he was about the SATs and college. He remembered just wanting to hang out with his friends. He remembered not having a care in the world.

And the boy in front of him had walked into class every day smiling even though he knew that his mother was going to die soon. He was his normal cheerful self even though he knew he had a possibility of dying in the same way. 

“Let’s just take this one step at a time.” 

—

“Hey Mr. Schue,” Blaine stood in his doorway again. “So…crazy about that gas leak right?”

“I am so sorry you had to go through that,” Will sighed, getting a small smile in response. “But hey, it explains all of your symptoms right? That has to make you feel a little better.”

“Yeah,” Blaine shrugged. “I got tested when I went home anyway. The doctors said it should take two to three more weeks until I get the results.”

“I’m sure it will be negative,” Will gave him the most reassuring smile he could. 

“Maybe. I told Kurt though,” a soft smile spread across his face. “He’s coming here so he can be there when I get the results.”

“Good,” Will felt himself relax slightly. “Don’t worry though. It’s all going to be okay.”

“I know,” Blaine’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. 

“And you are always welcome to come talk to me or Ms. Pillsbury if you need to,” Will patted him on the back. 

“I know, thank you,” his smile widened a little. 

Every time Blaine stepped into the choir room with his wide grins and cheerful mood Will’s heart broke. Now that he knew what was behind that mask everything seemed too theatrical. He wanted to take Blaine by the shoulders and shake him until that fake smile fell off. 

Two weeks passed before Blaine bounced into his office with a wide grin and told him the results were negative. Two weeks passed before Will could really sleep. Two weeks passed before Will felt like he could breathe again.


	2. When The Curtain Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by spannalovesblangst: Hi :) I’m a big fan of your writing and Fifty Percent was amazing! I was wondering if you could maybe write a sequel where Blaine’s mom dies and Mr Shue is the only one that notices…? Much love x

After Blaine’s confession Will worked harder to keep and eye on him. 

He was still as bright and bubbly as always, a huge smile on his face at all times, but there was a lingering darkness behind his eyes that worried Will. He couldn’t imagine the strain of having such a sick parent and worried that it was going to be too much. 

Then, Blaine showed up two minutes late for class. 

It wasn’t a big deal and Will was pretty lenient on timeliness but Blaine was always the first one in class. He shuffled into the room, head bowed, and found his seat.

“Will,” Emma leaned into the room, her wide fake smile on her face. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Give me a few minutes guys,” Will said to his class and followed her out into the hallway. “What’s going on?”

“Last night Blaine’s mother died,” she said softly and Will felt his heart drop. “I spoke to his father this morning and the funeral is on Saturday. Blaine…he just wants to go about his everyday routine. He refused to go home.”

“Wow,” Will breathed. “What do I do?”

“Just treat him like normal. He doesn’t want any special treatment,” she glanced into the room sadly. “It’s been a long time coming and I think maybe he did his grieving a long time ago.”

Will stepped into the room and Blaine glanced up from his sheet music. His eyes were slightly red rimmed and his eyes turned pleading. 

“Let’s get started,” Will clapped his hands and Blaine glanced back down. 

The lesson passed quickly and Will couldn’t get his mind off of Blaine in the front row. His shoulders were set as always and he stared blankly at the person performing. The moment the bell rang, Blaine jumped up and made it halfway out the room before Will called him. 

Blaine gave Tina and Sam a small wave as they walked out and turned to Will. “Ms. Pillsbury told you?”

“I am so sorry for your loss,” Will said softly as the last person left the room. 

“The doctors said she was in pain. It’s not…a good way to go but she’s not in pain anymore,” Blaine’s shoulders raised in a shrug. “We’ve been waiting for this day for years.”

“Still, she was your mom. I’m so sorry,” Blaine nodded slowly, closing his eyes. “If you need some support, we can come to the funeral.”

“I don’t want anyone treating me differently,” Blaine sighed. 

“We’re here for you if you want us to be. You don’t have to do this alone,” Blaine stared at him for a long moment before sighing. 

“The funeral is on Saturday. I know that Kurt, Rachel and Santana are coming and…I guess it would be nice if everyone else came too,” Blaine twisted his fingers in the hem of his shirt. “Thank you Mr. Schue.”

—

The funeral was beautiful. 

Will had stood with his students as they supported Blaine. He had smiled, hand in hand with Kurt but looked beyond exhausted. The flowers were lovely and Will couldn’t help but notice that every picture of her was at least ten years old. 

The one on the coffin was her and a beaming young Cooper and Blaine. 

“Thank you for coming,” Cooper stepped up to his side and smiled softly. “Blaine was pretty young when she started getting sick. I know it seems like he’s not dealing with it well but our mom has been dying for most of his life. It was almost a blessing when she went, at least she wasn’t in pain.”

“He’s dealing with it remarkably well,” Will watched as Blaine spoke softly to Kurt. 

“Our mom was living in a home. We hardly ever saw her,” something in Cooper’s eyes shifted. “Near the end she was a different person.”

“He was sick with worry when he was waiting for those test results,” Cooper’s face went a little stiff as Will spoke. “Did you get tested as well?”

“Yeah, Blaine wanted to do it together you know? I was in town anyway visiting and we went in to get our blood tested together,” Cooper glanced down at his feet for a moment and shook his head. “I’m so glad he was negative.”

Something cold and heavy settled in the bottom of Will’s stomach. “You weren’t.”

“It’s a fifty-fifty chance. Those are high odds,” Cooper scrubbed his hands through his hair and shrugged. “I’ll be okay. I haven’t shown any symptoms and…who knows, maybe they’ll come out with a cure tomorrow.”

Will’s heart broke for the family. They had just lost someone and another’s time was ticking away. He had to imagine that if he were told that he was dying of an incurable disease he would be terrified but Cooper looked calm, eyes locked on his brother.

“Does Blaine know?” Will asked softly. 

“No, and he won’t for a while,” Cooper shook his head slightly. “He’s got a lot ahead of him. He’s going off to college, getting married and will be starting a family. I don’t want him to worry about me.”

Will remembered that when Blaine had first come to McKinley he had thought the boy was a little fake. Now, he realized that the Anderson family was a family of actors. Every one of them plastered a bright smile on their faces like nothing was wrong. Everything was bright and happy until that curtain fell. 

Even the brightest smiles could hide the darkest secrets. 

“I won’t tell him,” Will whispered and Cooper smiled gratefully. 

“Good, he deserves some good for a while,” he crammed his hands in his pockets. 

Yeah, Will decided, he did. 


	3. Positive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I love love loved Fifty Percent. Do you think you could write a sequel/AU where Blaine doesn’t tell Kurt about it, and it turns out he does have the gene? I think it would be interesting to see what would happen between Will and Blaine, as it starts to progress and he starts to show symptoms.

Kurt first noticed something was strange three years after they got married. 

His husband had always been somewhat graceful. He would drift through rooms and leap onto furniture, so overwhelmed by all his energy that he could do nothing else but explode. 

Now he was more reserved. Kurt noticed the way his smiles seemed too stiff and how he inched away from him slightly when they lay in bed. Things were different and Kurt didn’t know why. 

It was a usual morning; they were both scrambling to get breakfast before running off to work when Blaine fell. It wasn’t a trip or anything, it looked just like his legs had given out on him and he hit the ground hard. His face twisted into a grimace and Kurt paused for a moment, reaching down to place a hand on his back.

“Are you alright?” He frowned as Blaine violently jerked away from him, slipping again on the floor. 

“Fine,” Blaine said shortly and slowly got back up. “I tripped.”

Kurt hesitated but it was obvious that Blaine didn’t want help. Instead, he smiled tightly and nodded.

—

“What was I supposed to get at the store?” Kurt sighed at the phone call, leaning back from his desk. 

“Did you bring the list I gave you?” He asked.

“Well…I lost the list. Just…milk right?” Blaine sounded so unsure that all the annoyance faded. 

“Yogurt Blaine, and honey,” he sighed. “Like the last time you called.”

“Yogurt and honey! Got it!”

He shouldn’t have been surprised at the pudding and jam in the fridge when he got home.

—

Blaine didn’t smile anymore. He didn’t even try to fake it. 

He wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping, sometimes it even seemed like breathing was too difficult. Most days he would spend it curled up on his bed or on the couch and shrugged off any attempt at comfort. The meals Kurt made him went uneaten and the dark circles made his face look too pale.

“Are you happy?” Kurt finally asked and Blaine stiffened in his arms. 

“Yeah.”

“I don’t believe you,” tears made his voice tremble. “Blaine, are you depressed?”

Blaine turned over in his arms and smiled softly, reaching up to gently brush a thumb over his cheekbone. “No. I have you, how could I be anything but happy?”

—

Kurt figured it out when he was just about to drift into sleep.

His eyes had been locked on Blaine’s curled up form and he saw a sharp twitch in his shoulder. For a moment he thought he might have just jerked before sleep but then the past few weeks came crashing over him. 

_Loss of coordination._

_Frequent clumsiness._

_Forgetfulness_

_Depression_

_Muscle twitches_

He had done his research when Blaine’s mother died but it hadn’t seemed to matter anymore after Blaine’s tests came back negative. Heart pounding in his chest, Kurt sat up and stared at his husband. 

“You lied to me,” he breathed and Blaine turned, frowning.

“What?”

“You lied to me. Your Huntington’s test was positive,” Blaine’s face went blank and he closed his eyes, making Kurt let out a sob. “You were positive. You’ve known since high school and you never told me?”

“I didn’t want us to live our life like it was on a timer,” he whispered. “I didn’t want us to constantly be counting down the days until it was over.”

“We could have gotten you on medication, in physical therapy,” Kurt could feel his voice getting higher. 

“I’ve been seeing a doctor for a while now,” Blaine sat up, scrubbing his hands through his hair. “I wasn’t expecting to show symptoms this early.”

“How much time?”

“They say that death usually happens…ten years after first symptoms are shown. That’s including all the symptoms,” Blaine stared down at the swirling pattern on the comforter. “I’m going to lose my mind. I’m going to lose control over my body.”

“We’ll get through it,” Kurt took both of his hands. 

“You don’t have to,” Blaine’s eyes glittered with tears. “I was…I was trying to keep things normal for as long as possible. I can’t force you to deal with this, I know how it messed up my dad.”

“I’m not leaving you,” his voice came out much rougher than he expected and Blaine’s eyes snapped up. “Never.”

“You don’t know what it was like Kurt. My mom lost her mind and lost control of her body. My dad had to spend every day with this…monster until he finally put her in a home,” Blaine shook his head. “I don’t want you to go through that.”

“We’re going to go through it together,” Kurt pressed their foreheads together. “No matter what happens. We’re going to research treatments and trials and…we’re going to enjoy these last few years, okay?”

“They’re going to be miserable,” Blaine breathed. 

“I’d rather spend ten hard years with you than a lifetime knowing I could have and didn’t,” Kurt kissed his temple. “I’m going to fight with you.”

Blaine’s body shook with a sob and Kurt wrapped his arms tightly around him. “I’m so scared.”

“Me too,” Kurt whispered.


	4. Anything For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Could you continue the 50/50 and When The Curtain Falls fic. Where Blaine finds out that Cooper has Huntington’s Disease

When Blaine got his negative test results he tried to put Huntington’s completely out of his mind. 

He had a life to look forward to, he had a fiancé he loved, and he had a future. For the first time in years, his future was guaranteed and it was hard to keep his joy under wraps. 

Without the threat of a horrible death looming over him Blaine found himself truly loving life. He loved living with Kurt and trying to figure out how adult life worked with him. He loved going to class and learning as much as he could. He loved wandering around the huge city and soaking up every last bit of everything. 

Then Cooper contacted him out of the blue two months before his wedding. 

“Hey! I’m moving to New York! Now I can help make your wedding truly Hollywood glamorous.”

It actually was nice having his brother nearby. Cooper wasn’t as obnoxious as he once was and actually seemed excited about his new life. But then it became too much. He was always there, always lingering somewhere nearby and trying constantly to involve himself in their lives. 

Blaine had enough when they went to try on tuxes.

“Maybe…Kurt and I can see the florist just by ourselves tomorrow?” He asked softly as they looked at themselves in the mirror. “I appreciate your offer to come and help but…we have it under control.”

His heart sank as Cooper’s smile fell and he nodded. “Of course. Not a problem.”

“I thought you hated that kind of stuff,” Blaine raised an eyebrow. 

“Nothing wrong with wanting to make memories with my baby brother,” Cooper gave him a strained smile. 

—

Three weeks later, Blaine got a call from the hospital. 

Cooper had been in a car accident. It wasn’t anything serious they said but it still made him panic. After leaving Kurt a quick voicemail, he called a cab and rushed to the hospital. His heart pounded as he hurried into the ER and was met with Cooper’s normal bright smile. 

“I told you not to bring a car to New York!” He sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Eh, I like the bit of control,” Cooper shrugged. 

“Are you alright?” Blaine looked over his brother, relieved that he only had a small cast on his wrist. 

“Fine, fractured wrist,” Cooper looked a little guilty. “Probably won’t be off by the wedding. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Blaine shook his head, taking a seat in the stiff plastic chair by his bed. With a soft groan, Cooper swung his legs around the side of the bed and swayed a little. “What happened?”

Cooper’s mouth tightened into a tight grimace and he let out a long breath. “It’s the chorea.”

For a moment the word didn’t even make sense. “Chorea?”

“Yeah,” Cooper said softly, staring down at his bare feet. “My leg just jerked and I slammed on the gas. I shouldn’t have been driving.”

As soon as the information all clicked, Blaine felt his blood run freezing cold. “Huntington’s…but you were negative.”

“Not I wasn’t,” Cooper gave him a sad smile. 

The cold terror quickly morphed into fury and Blaine felt his mouth twist into a snarl. “You lied to me. You knew that you had it and you never told me! How could you?”

“I have a doctor here in New York. I’m in a study,” Cooper scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I know I’m dying Blaine. I didn’t want your…amazing new start at a life to be overshadowed by my diagnosis. I was going to tell you after the wedding.”

“And it must be pretty advanced if you’re showing symptoms at your age,” Blaine jumped up, pacing slightly. 

“I have it all figured out. I’m going to my appointments, I’m taking my medication and I’m being healthy. I have plans for if things get worse so you never have to worry,” Cooper looked at him sadly. “This isn’t your fight Blaine. I just want to be there for your wedding but you don’t have to worry about it.”

“I don’t? You’re my big brother, of course this is my fight,” Blaine felt tears well in his eyes. “If our positions were switched would you listen if I told you to just ignore it?”

“Of course not.”

“I want to talk to your doctor. I want to help as much as I can,” Blaine swallowed around the tightness in his throat. “You can move in too. I’m sure Kurt won’t have a problem.”

—

“And now for the rings.”

Blaine turned to Cooper who reached into his pocket, pulling out a box. His eyes were bright and his smile was wide as he handed over the ring with shaking fingers. 

“Thank you,” Blaine said softly. 

“Anything for you baby brother,” Cooper responded. 

Anything for you.


End file.
